I’m finishing up my brief stay in California. Yesterday, I drove through an area called the Panoche Hills (west of Fresno). It was beautiful country, and I didn’t capture any photos that did the magnificent scenery of the area justice. Here’s my best one:

My main reason for visiting this region was to stop by Mercy Hot Springs, a local resort.

In addition to hot and cold pools of mineral water that you can soak your body in, Mercy Hot Springs is also home to a wintering colony of Long-eared Owls. I had already tried to find Long-eareds in four other locations in Washington and California, but they had eluded me thus far. This time was different. I found both owl pellets and the owls that crafted them. True to form, these Long-eared Owls were nestled up in some fairly dense foliage, but I was able to get good looks at them through my telescope and also get a few photos.

Long-eareds are the tenth different species of owl I have recorded on my big year – and I’ve actually posted pictures of seven of those species on this blog. Not too bad, if I do say so myself. Most species of owls are hard to find and hard to see. There are nine more species that occur annually in North America, and I’m hoping to find at least a few more before the year is up.

Today I drove down to Monterey. I had never visited this area before, and was impressed with its natural beauty. I spent a couple hours just watching the wildlife in the Monterey Harbor.

Highlights for me were two Sea Otters lounging on their backs munching something (sea urchins?), dozens of California Sea Lions, about 100 dolphins frolicking just beyond the jetty, a quick look at a Gray Whale (inside the jetty!), and a couple dozen species of birds.

Unusual birds for the area included Northern Fulmars (usually seen out in the pelagic zone miles from shore) and an Arctic Loon (that should be wintering in Siberia right now). I got a few photos of the Arctic Loon:

This Common Murre also swam by close enough to have its picture taken. It is already molting from its winter plumage into its breeding plumage.

Most birds molt twice a year, and some (like the Common Murre) actually grow different colored feathers depending on the season. In the early fall, this Murre replaced many of the dark feathers on its head with white ones, so that the chin and throat area were snow white. Now you can see that most of the white feathers below the bill have been replaced with dark ones for the spring and summer. The mottled appearance indicates that the replacement process is not yet complete.

After spending much of the morning watching wild animals, I drove over to the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was impressive – I especially enjoyed seeing a school of one-ton tuna race around the open ocean tank. The leafy sea dragons and the sand dollars were pretty cool too.

Tomorrow I’m taking the 6:10am flight to Phoenix. Gotta get some rest…